Journalists gather in Khan Younis to protest Israeli targeting of colleagues
Journalists gather in front of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, to protest the targeting of their colleagues Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour, who were killed in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, in Khan Younis, Gaza on March 26
Fatah calls on Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza
Munther al-Hayek, the spokesperson for Fatah Gaza, has urged Hamas to give up power, saying its rule in the enclave threatens the Palestinian cause, according to the Wafa news agency.
Al-Hayek made the comments after groups of people reportedly rallied yesterday in northern Gaza chanting anti-Hamas slogans. The spokesperson, whose party is a domestic rival of Hamas, urged the group to heed the people’s demands and step down for the public good, saying that ending the bloodshed of children should take priority.
Hamas has previously said it was ready to cede control of Gaza after Israel’s war ends, and welcomed the Egyptian-led proposal for the enclave’s reconstruction, which calls for a committee of technocrats to administer the territory during the plan’s first phase.
Palestinians in Gaza protest against Israel and Hamas in a rare show of dissent
Palestinians gather to protest against the renewed Israeli attacks following the collapse of the ceasefire as demonstrators hold signs, reading “Stop the Israeli attacks” and “We are not terrorists, we are a free people”, as they call for an end to the Israeli attacks on Gaza on March 26, 2025 in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza
Thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza in the second day of antiwar protests, with many chanting against Hamas in a rare display of public anger against the group.
The protests, which centred mainly on Gaza’s north, appeared to be aimed generally against Israel’s war on Gaza, with protesters calling for an end to 17 months of deadly fighting with Israel that has made life in the Strip insufferable.
But the public calls against Hamas, which has long repressed dissent and still rules the territory months into the war with Israel, have been rare.
In the town of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting “the people want the fall of Hamas.” In the hard-hit Shujayea neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted “Out, out out! Hamas get out!”
“Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,” said Abed Radwan, who told The Associated Press news agency that he joined the protest in Beit Lahiya “against the war, against Hamas, and the [Palestinian political] factions, against Israel and against the world’s silence.”
Ammar Hassan, who took part in a protest on Tuesday, said it started as an antiwar protest with a few dozen people but swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.
“It’s the only party we can affect,” he told The AP by phone. “Protests won’t stop the [Israeli] occupation, but it can affect Hamas.”
Gaza in a ‘dangerous impasse’ with no way out in sight
Israel has been adopting a strategy in Gaza that “serves [its] own interest by maintaining the occupation”, while Arab nations led by Egypt have been pushing for a reconstruction plan that the US and Israel are ignoring, according to Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor in public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“We are in a very dangerous impasse and we don’t see a way out,” Qarmout told Al Jazeera. “Palestinians are frustrated on two fronts, with the Israelis and with their own leadership, which has been entrenched in its own narrow positions against the interest of the people.”
“The question is what’s next,” he added. “Will this [war] lead to displacement, will this end the conflict? No one is talking about the big outcome, about a proposal to end the conflict, including the Americans.”
